


skyfall

by eunhyeo



Category: C0NSTANTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Zombie Apocalypse, falling started it blame her, that au no one asked for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2016-05-03
Packaged: 2018-06-06 05:19:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6739960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eunhyeo/pseuds/eunhyeo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>the prequel to "dance with me" by fallingwish</p>
            </blockquote>





	skyfall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fallingwish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallingwish/gifts).



it starts like this:

they're walking back home from by the movies. artie is talking about something that had happened at work yesterday, though he's sure alastar isn't listening. he doesn't mind. the sky is blue and the weather's lovely and he's holding alastar's hand. they pass the corner store, and he tries to remember if they need to get groceries before dinner. he doesn't want to eat eggs again.

his train of thought is interrupted by a piercing shriek. it shatters the mellow peace, and he can't tear his eyes away as a woman collapses in the middle of the street. there is blood. there are hands on her shoulders and teeth in her neck, and then suddenly she goes limp on the ground.

for a fraction of a second, he thinks that it's some kind of publicity stunt, staged by the theater to advertise. then the figure stands up, shambling in their direction, and even from a distance he can tell that that's not makeup. not even a hologram had such vivid detail, an arm missing and a gaping hole where its heart should be.

and then the woman twitches, and then she's wavering as she stands up again, movements jerky and stiff. she should be dead. there is blood still oozing out of her neck and staining her dress, and her throat has been ripped out. it's like a horror movie, he thinks. and then: if this is a horror movie, i'm going to die.

he's jolted into action when alastar squeezes his hand, and suddenly his feet can move and they're running, running until his legs hurt and his lungs ache with the pain of being alive. fear takes him further than his body ever could, and he only stops when alastar tells him to slow down.

"artie," he wheezes, and artie turns to look at him. "artie, we- i- i need to go to the hospital." 

he stares at alastar dumbly. what was he saying? after what had happened, after what they'd witnessed... he wanted to go home. he needed to go home, and make sure that everyone was safe, and that what he'd seen was just a prank, just pretend, set up like the movie they'd just watched- (she'd gotten up, she'd gotten up when she should've been _dead-_ )

"what?" he says instead.

"i need to go to the hospital," alastar repeats. "if- if there's a disease... it's my job, i should-"

"you're a surgeon," he blurts.

"if amputation is needed- if amputation can stop that-"

"no," he pleads. "don't go." he needs alastar to stay. he can't risk that happening to alastar, can't risk losing him when he's only just gotten him. his grip on alastar's hand tightens- surgeon's hand, so small compared to his.

alastar is shaking, he realizes, and he looks down at him. he's hunched over, as if to protect himself from the unknown, and he looks as if a single breeze could carry him away.

"let's go home," artie continues. "let's go home, and figure this out, and we can have eggs in bed and watch reruns of the twilight zone, and then, and then, tomorrow morning we can check the news and go to the hospital." he watches alastar nervously for a moment, praying that he'll say yes.

three seconds pass, and it feels like an eternity.

"...okay," alastar whispers, and artie lets out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

he smiles at him, and they walk the rest of the way home.

* * *

he wakes up before alastar, the sky still grey and the city quiet. almost too quiet.

he shakes off the sense of uneasiness that persists, and moves to the next room over to check the news.

_"...don't leave your house until further notice..."_

_"strange cases of assault, some say it was..."_

_"...rumors of zombies have been-"_

he turns the television off before he can hear the rest, sitting down heavily on the couch.

 _zombies._  
  
was it just here? how did it happen? what about his parents? his brother? were they safe? the people at work? he hadn't gotten to see the woman's face- she could've been someone he knew-

"artie?"

alastar's voice is quiet and heavy with sleep as he pads into the living room. "you weren't in bed," he yawns.

artie looks up at him, wide-eyed for the fraction of a second, before he smiles. "i couldn't fall back asleep," he tells him, and that's mostly the truth.

"i heard the television," alastar replies, heading to the kitchen for a glass of water and coffee. "anything on the news?"

"nothing," he lies. "it was nothing."

alastar just nods, and doesn't question him. "do you want coffee?" he asks, and artie swallows.

"no thanks. i'm- i'm going to go take a shower, okay?"

he doesn't wait to hear what alastar says, before he rushes back to the bedroom.

* * *

he pretends that his problems wash down the drain, and when he comes out he feels much better than before. alastar is still in the kitchen, gripping the remote in his hand.

"what do you want for breakfast?" he asks, walking up behind him and slipping his arms around his waist. he can hear the television in the background, and the birds outside, just like yesterday and the day before that. the familiarity comforts him, and he pretends that everything's okay.

alastar doesn't say anything, and the muffled voice of the newscaster fill in the silence.

_"...as you can see, though fatally wounded, these creatures continue to..."_

his heart drops into the pit of his stomach, and he pries the remote from alastar's hand. it takes a few tries, but he finally turns the television off.

"alastar-" he begins, but he stops there. what else can he say? instead, he just holds him close, trying to calm down. alastar's trembling in his arms, and he twists around to hide his face in artie's shoulder.

he closes his eyes, taking a deep breath as alastar's tears soak through his shirt. he cries enough for the both of them, and artie thinks that if he can protect him it'll be enough.

* * *

it ends like this:

they run and run and run and run

and in the end it isn't enough.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm sorry  
> jk i'm not this is my revenge on falling


End file.
